JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Evangelical fundamentalism : an historical-theological study

Meiring, Michael J. (2010-12)

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2010.

Thesis

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In essence this thesis attempts to answer two questions: Broadly, what is “fundamentalism,”
and particularly, “evangelical fundamentalism”? Ever since the terrorist attacks on the twin
towers in New York on September 11, 2001, “fundamentalism” has become a synonymous
term for these and any other militant Islamist attacks. Yet fundamentalism is historically an
American and Protestant phenomenon.
However, because fundamentalism is not merely a Protestant phenomenon but more
distinctively a “sub-species” of nineteenth century evangelicalism in America, and because
one cannot historically separate fundamentalism from evangelicalism, I prefer to adopt the
term “evangelical fundamentalism.” Yet there is more to the term than simply defining it
appropriately within a certain historical context. For example, many conservative
evangelicals can neither be labeled, historically or theologically, as “fundamentalists” nor as
“evangelical fundamentalists.” Definitions change over time. An understanding of the
movement’s history—its resistance to modernity and engagement with postmodernity—
will need to be examined as it opens up more questions concerning its identity and theology.
After summarizing its historical development and evolution, I emphasize the fact that a
simple definition does not exist—the movement is too heterogeneous. I therefore identify
and adopt a plurality of senses or perspectives to the term and to what it means to be an
“evangelical fundamentalist” today.